Caracter finally contributing for Cardinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2007 -

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -The text messages would start soon after every Louisville game, one friend hitting up another.

For most of the season, it's how Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark communicated on game days. Caracter texting Clark what he thought about the game, Clark texting the big guy back to say the Cardinals needed him.

They'd come to Louisville together ``to accomplish things'' as Clark put it, yet while Clark blossomed into one of Louisville's most pleasant surprises, Caracter spent months battling his weight, coach Rick Pitino and himself.

``I guess I was in my own world, just thinking about things further down the line instead of just worrying about where I'm at right now and getting the job done here first,'' Caracter said.

It took a little encouragement from his teammates, a handful of suspensions that have limited him to 10 games and a lot of tough love from a former Cardinal who knows what it's like to spend time in Pitino's doghouse, but the player Pitino likened to Charles Barkley finally seems ready to grow up.

``It's just getting that hunger back, that love back for the game,'' Caracter said.

It's a love Caracter rediscovered just in time to help the Cardinals (18-8, 8-4 Big East) scratch their way back into contention for an NCAA tournament berth. With the 6-foot-8, 265-pounder taking some of the pressure off center David Padgett, the Cardinals have put together impressive wins over South Florida and No. 7 Pittsburgh.

Caracter posted his first career double-double in the win over the Bulls, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He followed it up with eight points and four rebounds against Pittsburgh, holding his own against the Panther's all-Big East center, senior Aaron Gray.

``I just want to bring a lot of energy,'' Caracter said.

Energetic is hardly a word Pitino associated with his prized but troubled recruit. Though Caracter dropped more than 50 pounds last summer, there were some bad habits that reached beyond sneaking in a few too many late-night snacks, including a lackluster work ethic.

At various points this season Pitino has called Caracter ``lethargic'' and ``immature,'' criticized his unwillingness to play defense and keep his weight down. Those problems led to various suspensions. Pitino sent Caracter home to New Jersey for a ``break'' right before Christmas. Caracter returned to the team briefly, only to be suspended again in mid-January.

Last month, in what Pitino described as Caracter's last chance to stay with the team, he hired former center Ellis Myles as assistant strength coach and ordered Caracter to listen or else.

Myles, who helped the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2005, is working with the team while rehabilitating a knee he injured playing overseas last fall.

Like Caracter, Myles had more than his share of run-ins with Pitino during his freshman season. Like Caracter, Myles came in with unrefined practice habits and a stubborn streak to match Pitino's. Over the last three weeks, Myles has taken Caracter under his wing, pushing and prodding Caracter through solitary workouts while the rest of the team practiced.

``I guess he is just a little immature,'' Myles said. ``I guess everything was given to him in high school. He was the biggest guy in high school and everything just came easy for him. I guess coming down here he thought it was going to be easy. But I mean, playing for Coach nothing is going to be easy.''

A point Caracter finally seems to have grasped.

``Ellis kept telling me this is my last chance and I'm his last option and it's time to get it done,'' Caracter said.

He admits it was hard watching the Cardinals play, particularly Clark. More than once over the last three months his phone has rung after a game. On the other end will be a mutual friend of Caracter and Clark's wondering why the skinny kid was playing while the big guy was nowhere to be seen.

``They're like, 'Earl's turned the corner and you're not turning the corner,''' Caracter said. ``That just really motivated me.''

Clark said he didn't talk to Caracter much about the suspensions. He didn't have to.

``I knew it was bothering him,'' Clark said. ``We just had small talks all the time. I kept telling him we needed him back.''

Maybe, but some of his teammates admit they didn't expect to play alongside Caracter again after his last run-in with Pitino following a loss to Marquette last month.

``You got the sense (that he wasn't coming back),'' guard Brandon Jenkins said.

Even now, with the worst apparently behind him, Caracter is hardly looking ahead. He's gone through too much this season to believe he's in the clear. For now, he's simply happy to be out there contributing.

``I'm just going to try and play team basketball and be as positive as I can,'' he said.

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